Lose Yourself
by xeirani
Summary: Theo's a bit of what most people would call an introvert. Of course, if you asked him (no one really does), he would say that he's content to drift through life, tinkering with dangerous equipment as he does. But when these "heroes" come and Miss Oikos sends he and his fellow campers away from their home, he's forced to come to terms with what he is, and face his future head-on. T.
1. PROLOGUE

Hi. I'm Ten, and this is my first story. Well not really... I tend to write in a non-linear way, so this is the first one that actually starts at the beginning... It's called 'Lose Yourself.' I might change the title later if I can think of anything better.

This is actually the second time I'm posting Lose Yourself, because of the House of Hades. Nico's sexuality was made public, and I felt the need to change to gender of my OC. It helped that I had only published one chapter… and then forgot about the story… whoops.

Lose Yourself is kind of a trial run for whatever else I'm going to put up on here, so tell me what you think. ^^

Yes, it's Nico x OC. I feel like Nico should end up with someone, so yeah. Rest assured, I'm not messing with any canon pairings. Erm. That's it. Enjoy :)

I apologize for OOC-ness! :O

Some of them are hard to get right.

Disclaimer: The Percy Jackson and the Olympians Series and the Heroes of Olympus series both belong to Rick Riordan.

ALSO… THIS WAS BETA-ED BY THE LOVELY UK-824 and (just for this chapter) THE AWESOME GRAMMAR NAZI reegreeg.

**This is slash.** If you don't like it, don't read it.

Rated T for Theo. Oh and also mentions of abuse and coarse language.

**XxXxXxXxX**

**PROLOGUE**

"This," remarked a tall boy with jet-black hair and sea-green eyes, as he and his companions trudged down the winding road, "has got to be one of the sorriest streets in America." Even though the other teenagers ignored him, it was easy to see that he was correct. The 'street' was more of a long, worn-down path, covered with cracks and potholes, as if no one had attempted to maintain it since it was first laid.

The homes that sat around the pavement were in similar disarray. Haphazardly designed, every single one had some need for repairs. Peeling paint had been shoddily slapped onto their exteriors, and very few had windows that weren't cracked or shattered.

As they advanced, the kids could feel their courage dissipating. They felt less like heroes who had slain hundreds of monsters and more like children with every step. And the worst part was _the silence._

It had already been quiet when they had entered the town on the outskirts of St. Louis, Missouri, but they had paid it no heed, attributing it to the unnatural cold of the evening in early September. However, as they left behind the rows of neat, prim, and, frankly, boring houses, the lack of noise took on a creepier tone in their minds.

They all seemed slightly on edge, and the boy from before, seemingly leading the group, muttered to one of his companions, "Do you smell anything, Grover?"

Not unlike an animal, his limping friend in a Rasta cap paused to sniff the air, replying, "No, but I'll keep checking." The others in the odd bunch looked relieved at his statement, but they still walked a little faster as a chilly breeze blew past.

You could tell that they, though little more than children in the eyes of the public, were battle-hardened, on edge, hands reaching to grasp what were presumably hidden weapons every time the wind whistled through the trees or they accidently kicked a discarded can.

"Guys, stop. We're here." The leader, Grover, and a younger, pale boy clothed completely in black had all continued walking, not noticing their final comrade, a blonde girl with startling grey eyes, stop in front of one of the homes. Backpedaling to her, they too stopped in front of the neglected dwelling, turning to face it.

The head of their quest gulped. "Are you sure this is the right place?" he asked, hoping vehemently she would say, _'Oh whoops, never mind. We're in the wrong place. Let's go over to those nicer looking houses way back there.'_

But, alas, she snapped at him, "No, Seaweed brain. This is the wrong place. That's _definitely_ why I said we're here." About to reply something equally curt, he stopped himself, as he realized she was hiding behind her words - she also was as squeamish as him, knowing that the person they had come to get lived in a place such as this. He inwardly grinned to himself, despite the situation.

_'Heh. Annabeth can't call me obtuse anymore.'_ He thought proudly, before returning to the situation at hand.

Annabeth, the girl in question, was on the doorstep, ready to knock. He reached out and pulled her back, knocking on the door himself. Grover followed him semi-reluctantly, clutching a tin can as a weapon. Annabeth huffed at them, but she let him do as he pleased, knowing it would be a long argument if she berated him for wanting to protect her. Honestly, she didn't understand boys and their chivalry.

_'Stupid Percy.'_ she thought, but even in her mind, it was said in the fond tone she reserved for her boyfriend. She returned her attention to ahead of her as the creaky old door swung open. Opening it was a burly, lumbering figure, dressed in a stained undershirt and old boxers, glaring down at them with beady, squinting eyes.

"Whaddaya want?" he growled, and as the smell sweat and alcohol assailed her nostrils, Annabeth had the sudden, impulsive urge to pull her dagger on him. It was the ADHD part of her brain talking, and while she knew it was not necessarily the best idea, she still had the slightly disturbing image of his beer belly popping like a balloon as she stabbed it. However, she had learned from experience that this wasn't always the best solution when convincing parents to allow their charges to accompany them back to camp.

Evidently, Percy had realized this also, and though his hand curled around the pen in his pocket, he turned on his best let's-not-piss-off-this-guy voice, and said, "Hello sir." Or at least that's what he would had he not been interrupted in the first syllable by the door slamming in his face and a bark of, "I don't want any of your damn cookies!"

Momentarily stunned by the sudden, angry dismissal, the three teens were snapped out of their dumbfounded trance by the chuckle of their teammate, the boy in black. He had melted into the darkness behind them, watching the absurd situation.

"Your faces!" he chortled.

"And what were you doing back there, Nico?" Percy mock-glared at the youth. "Hiding in the shadows?" Nico flushed for a brief moment before recovering himself.

He ignored the older boy's fake glower and, in a tone annoyingly similar to Percy's pet pegasus, he quipped, "Just watching it all, boss. And waiting here for backup in case you need it, though I can see that you have the situation under control." He topped it off with a lazy salute, and Percy sighed resignedly.

"Well then, maybe you should take on Walrus Man, Death Breath." He grinned as the smirk on Nico's face slipped off.

"Seriously? Walrus Man?" he said, pushing himself off the wall.

"I just made it up. It really fits, doesn't it?" Percy rebutted.

"That sounds like a lame superhero." Nico leaned back again, rolling his eyes.

"Well-" Percy was cut off by an irritated bleat.

"Perrrrcy, Nico, I hate to interrupt you, but Annabeth is knocking on the door again."

Both boys turned back to the doorway, where sure enough, the blonde girl had her hand raised in a fist.

"Um, Wise Girl, maybe I should…" he trailed off as his girlfriend sent him a look that read stop-me-and-I-swear-I'll-cut-you. He backed off slowly, as his friends behind him laughed at his expense.

As Annabeth banged her fist against the wood and waited, he settled for muttering under his breath about Walrus Man.

"Seriously, what kind of person asks someone what they want, and then cuts them off before they speak?" he grumbled.

The creaky door opened once more, and the man scowled at them.

"Hi-"

Just as he had done with Percy, Walrus Man attempted to slam the door in her face. Except, with her superior reflexes, Annabeth stuck her foot in the doorway, stopping it in its tracks. She looked up at his astonished face through the gap.

"If you'll excuse us sir, we just want to have a little chat."

**OoOoO**

Eventually, the four found themselves sitting on a dark green stuffed couch, directly across from Walrus Man. Both the couch and the old coffee table that separated them looked worse for wear, much like the rest of the house.

The peeling paint continued inside, and they could see broken furniture and floorboards under the flickering lighting. Somewhere above, they could vaguely hear noises that they didn't want to place.

"So what do you want?" Walrus Man ground out. He glared at them, and while the three boys nervously shifted in their seats, Annabeth held his gaze coolly.

Her stormy eyes sparkled with intelligence, and she sighed to herself as she looked at her companions. She too was slightly intimidated by this man, but she kept her emotions in check. Something about him was off, but she wasn't going to let it distract her from her task. In fact, it made her want to complete it all the sooner.

Still, her boyfriend was adorable like this. She discretely placed a hand on Percy's knee, squeezing it gently, before deciding to take control again.

"We're looking for a boy," she said, and Walrus Man's eyes narrowed. Undaunted, she continued, "Should be around 14 now?"

"You'll have to be more specific than that, sweetheart."

Annabeth grimaced at the name, and she could feel Percy stiffen at her side.

"I think you know who we're talking about, _sir._" The way Nico said it automatically made it darker, mocking, and he could see Walrus Man visibly stiffen.

"I don't, kid." Walrus Man shot back. "Several boys come and go through here." His grin, and the way he licked his cracked lips after sent shivers down everyone's spines.

"Am I correct in saying that you are Mr. Blake?" Annabeth asked slowly.

Walrus Man, now Mr. Blake, slightly inclined his head. Annabeth took this as an affirmation.

"Then we're looking for your stepson." At this, Mr. Blake suddenly jumped up, letting out a sinister, barking laugh. Annabeth, Grover, Percy, and Nico leapt from the sofa in surprise, their weapons out in a flash, and they backed away from the cackling man.

"Do you really think golf clubs and a tin can will hurt me?" Mr. Blake grinned sickeningly, and abruptly lurched forward, sending the kids back in alarm. Their backs hit the wooden door and Grover fumbled for the knob as the other three stared wide-eyed at the gigantic man advancing towards them.

Just as he was about to reach them, the door gave way slamming on it's hinges from the force. They tumbled to the ground, just as the laughter stopped. Mr. Blake glared at them from the doorway.

"His mother always said that people would come for him. I guess you finally did, but you've missed him by about six years. That little bastard ran away from my _hospitality_, and good riddance, too!" And with that thought and a loud bang, Mr. Blake shut the door in their faces for a third time.

After a blank moment, suddenly diplomatic, Percy said, "Annabeth, can you call camp and tell Chiron what just happened? Nico, come with me. Let's go find out what else that man can tell us. Grover, um..." He faltered at the end, unsure of what to tell his goat friend.

"I can stay out here." The satyr volunteered brightly.

"Yeah" Percy nodded at him. He uncapped Riptide. At the withering look Annabeth shot him, he replied nonchalantly, "What? It's just for intimidation. He thinks it's a golf club. Plus, he's a mortal - I _can't_ hurt him."

As the two boys proceeded to break down the door and troop into the house, Annabeth got out the spray gun she had on her at all times. She tossed a golden drachma at the rainbow it created with the light.

"Oh, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering. Chiron at Camp Half-Blood." The puddle shimmered, showing the kindly old centaur speaking to some younger campers.

After shooing away the children, who were apparently asking for pony rides, Chiron smiled at her.

"Oh hello, Annabeth. Is something wrong?"

"I think I finally understand why you sent Nico, Percy, and me here." she said darkly, and Chiron sighed.

"I guess you do. Please tell me what happened." And Annabeth did. As she finished explaining, Percy and Nico emerged from the house, the former grinning triumphantly.

"Long story short, we have returned victoriously." he added to the end of Annabeth's account.

Nico rolled his eyes. "By that, he means we scared him into apologizing for his behavior, but he refused to give us any more information."

"Well, that's troubling." said Chiron gravely. "For right now, you should return to camp. We'll discuss this then." The heroes nodded, and the message glimmered, disappearing.

"Nico," asked Annabeth. "Do you think you could shadow travel us back?"

As he opened his mouth to answer, he stopped, staring behind her. They turned to see another Iris-Message shimmer into existence, this time someone else calling them. The message cleared to show a familiar, strong-looking daughter of Ares.

"Jackson." grunted Clarisse, flicking her light brown hair out of her eyes. Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "And Princess and the rest." she sneered dismissively.

"I know you're going to have a field day on this one, so shut up until I'm done talking." Me and Chris are in some forest-"

A male shout, probably Chris, interrupted her. "Shoshone National Forest!"

"Yeah… that," she said. "Anyway, we've got a wimpy goat here who says he's sensing way too many monsters around here, so we're going to need some backup. Yes, Prissy, I'm asking for help, so come on!"

The message flickered away as she struck her hand through it. Annabeth grinned, turning to Nico.

"Change of destination. Do you think you can do it?"

Nico mirrored her expression. "Why not."

**XxXxXxXxX**


	2. CHAPTER 1

**Hello there, people of the site! I'm re-posting this chapter as something happened as it was being added. Not completely sure what, but here's the real chapter, introducing the lovely Theo Rowe. He's a bit of a... personality, isn't he.**

**Warnings: Slash, mentions of abuse. Nico x OC.**

**Disclaimer: The Percy Jackson Series and Heroes of Olympus belongs to Rick "The Troll" Riordan.**

**Beta-ed by UK-824, who I'm really glad puts up with me and my non-existant update schedule.**

**Love, Ten**

**XxXxXxXxX**

**CHAPTER 1**

**Theo**

I never thought that I would lose myself. I had never really thought about the possibility that something like that would occur. I was Theo Rowe, the one who always had my feet planted firmly on the ground. It was never really a question that I was always there.

I was the one who helped lead Miss Oikos' camp from the shadows. I was the one who tightened screws on things, or hit nails with hammers. I was the one who defended little Ayla from bullies. I was the one who comforted Scout when her ginormous inferiority complex made her wonder for the billionth time whether or not she was a good leader.

A camper here with an affinity for always saying the right words called me once "the glue that holds Camp Oikos together." I couldn't really agree with him, as I didn't know nearly enough people to actually hold anything together; it was just that people tended to know me (probably because I hung around Scout often enough that my sanity came into question).

Also, as far as holding things together went, I would much rather be some sort of stronger adhesive. Glue was just so boring.

But I digress (you'll find that that's another part of me), I was the one who fixed both people and things, and that was just me. Theo. It was me and my life, and it was peaceful enough that I wished it would stay that way.

I suppose you could say that another part of my life was fate hating me.

Sometimes, I feel like my entire life was leading up to the moment when those strangers led demons into the camp. But I suppose that the easiest place to start is a little bit before that.

I was lying down on a hill of fading green, staring at the clouds above. Benedict and I had gone into the city with some younger kids, to teach them about the outside world while gathering supplies. We'd split up because there were too many of us, Benedict taking one to get the actual provisions while I stayed with the others on this grassy field a ways away.

I'd told the kids that they could do whatever they wanted, as long as they didn't go too far or get themselves hurt. Somewhere in the distance I could hear the sound of laughter, followed by a child's shriek. I momentarily considered seeing what was wrong before deciding against it. They were probably fine. Unless it came to Ayla, I wasn't much of a hands-on babysitter.

As the clouds made shapes in the vibrant blue sky, and the slight September breeze rustled the blades of grass, I wondered if Benedict would take long enough that I could peacefully waste away the rest of the day. The moment was shattered by something jumping on me.

It poked my cheek.

"Hey Theo, stop being boring! Come have fun!" The little boy grinned down at me from his spot on my torso.

"Drake!" I spluttered. "Can't… breathe-" Only then did he seem to notice that he was crushing my chest.

"Oh sorry." he smiled, getting up. "But yeah, come on and play! Everyone wants you to come!" I propped myself up on my arm and smirked at the seven-year-old.

"You assault me, and then want me to come play with you?" I teased, poking his cheek the way he had done to me. The boy pouted.

"C'mon Theo, please!" he begged. "Please, please, please, please, please!" I rolled my eyes and made a show of getting up.

"Fine. If you really want me to, I guess I-"

"Yay!" He grinned again. I swear, that little boy was always smiling. He tried to pull the sleeve of my jacket, but only succeeded in falling down, pulling me with him. We tumbled down the hill, and hit the bottom with a thud. Somehow, while the wind had gotten knocked out of me, Drake was laughing. I glared at him, pretending to be angry.

"I oughta get you for this!" I growled, and lunged at him. He roared like a lion cub, and tried to punch me with his little arms, laughing all the while. We wrestled for a bit, until another child joined the fray. It seemed like we'd drawn attention to ourselves.

"Haha, Theo! How do you like that!" The new boy yelled, punching me in the stomach, barely winding me. I rolled my eyes before I realized something.

"Hold on, Bryce. Weren't you with…" I trailed off noticing a pair of legs behind the boy's head. I looked up, past the well-muscled body, and onto Benedict's face, which had an amused smirk on it.

"Oh, hey Benny." I said weakly. Benedict only shook his head good-naturedly.

"Come on Theo, we need to go back." He smiled.

"Okay, okay." I stood up and dusted myself off, following the older boy who had two kids hanging off of him.

"How come I didn't hear you?" I asked.

"Probably because you were in your own little world." He replied teasingly, and I glowered. "And also because you installed those silent boosters last week."

"Oh those. I forgot." He punched my shoulder. I winced slightly, but tried to fake that I could still feel my arm.

"Sure you did." He rolled his eyes. "I bet you're just trying to pretend you're humble." I growled and swerved around to glare at him, intending to defend myself, when I noticed him grinning. I settled for taking a swipe at the good natured smile on his face (which was blocked by a strong hand), huffing.

That was the end of the discussion. I usually wasn't much of a talker, especially since there were two girls who would talk my ear off when I got back to Camp, so that was one of the longer conversations I'd had. I was much better with kids compared to those around my own age. Benedict was someone I could chat with easier, but even then silence was normal for us. As we walked, listening to the prattle of the younger kids, I looked up at him. And by up, I mean up.

Benedict was a large guy, but it was mainly muscle, making him pretty sturdy. He was better-looking than most, with short sandy brown hair and a slight smile on his face that made him feel approachable, and was pretty easy-going, proven when:

"Hey Benny! What does assault mean?"

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Theo."

"Theo, don't teach Drake weird things."

He was about a year and a half older than me, and if Scout was Camp's honorary leader, Benny was the honorary assistant-leader. He helped out wherever he could, and if you just took a short walk through camp, you could hear the phrase, "Hey Benny!" shouted at least three times.

He was one of the few that didn't change his name or alter his appearance when he joined. It was a little ritual we had, shedding your old identity, and letting go of the past with it. It went with the motto of camp Oikos: "Look to the future." Well, it wasn't like many people looked to their shitty past. Most just found ways to vent their feelings, including Benedict.

There was a reason that it took him less than a year to rise to number one on Camp's list of demon kills. He mellowed out somewhat about a half a year ago, which we jokingly attributed to him finding a girl. Speaking of which…

"How's Misty?" I asked. He smiled goofily, a lovestruck look in his eyes.

"She's great." It was cute how head-over-heels in love they were, but not so cute when you had to shield your eyes to stop from being blinded by lots of PDA.

All in all, Benedict was a pretty cool guy, and he even agreed to let me test drive the motorcycles on this little excursion. The bikes themselves were pretty old, but I'd recently added several little additions to them (like the silent boosters).

Most people would never have even touched them until they were completely made sure to be safe, after what happened last time. It really wasn't my fault, as Bryce had messed with my tools when I wasn't looking. A little trickster, he was. It resulted in Drake's unsuspecting adoptive sister Monday taking a ride and ending up in the Camp Clinic for a few weeks.

She had eventually gotten better, and Miss Oikos intervened on the two boys who had refused to talk to each other afterward, so it all ended well. But no one trusted my motorcycles afterwards.

In the end, Benedict was the only one who would test drive my motorcycles, which made him pretty cool in my book. The two we brought with us were parked a little ways away, just outside of the field.

They looked like they had gone through a war: dirt stains covering up much of the gleam, random dents scattered throughout the metal, and a worn seat that I had yet to replace. An odd assortment of buttons and levers littered their fronts, an easy reach for the rider, making them stand out even more than they did.

They were beautiful.

We helped the kids on; Benedict rode with five-year-old Holly in front, and Bryce in the back, while I had Drake hold on from behind and Holly's twin sister, Theresa, fit in snug between me and the handlebars. I'm pretty sure that having this many people on a bike wasn't legal, but then again, we were also too young to drive, and that wasn't stopping us.

We used the newly-installed sidecars to hold the supplies, and once everything was packed up, we zoomed off. The silent-boosters were pretty awesome, if I do say so myself, but their effects were negated by the children who began to scream as we picked up speed. Hey, we were already breaking laws, why not ignore speed limits while we were at it?

As we entered Shoshone, I bade the kids to quiet down. Well technically, I yelled, "Shut up!" over the roaring wind, but the results were the same. You see, we were technically not allowed to have Camp in the forest; it was the first national forest in America. I doubted they wanted a group of demon-bait hiding out there.

That's what we called ourselves, as demons seemed especially attracted to us. They ignored normal humans, who didn't seem to be able to see them, but a single whiff of our scent (we assumed we had a different one from normals from the numerous demons sniffing the air before charging) had them attacking us.

We ran into a couple on our way back. Literally, before I had realized it, I had crushed the first under the wheels. Ah, how I loved these motorcycles. Benedict just speared the other through the chest in a second. Obviously, we u-turned to collect the prizes.

There, left lying on the ground amidst a shower of golden dust, were two long fangs. One was mine, from the death-by-motorcycle demon, and Benedict let me keep his to give to Ayla. It was an unwritten rule that most - if not all - teeth prizes went to the little girl. She seemed to have a morbid fascination with them, and made them into jewelry for everyone. I'm pretty sure that everybody at camp had at least four little demon tooth trinkets from her.

We decided to walk from there, as demons meant that camp was close by. And Scout had a rule of people not bursting into camp on the loud machines. More often than not, they ran over something, and if they didn't, they had probably already been shot by an arrow from someone who thought they were a demon, as if a demon could enter camp.

However, that also meant that the kids, who were hyperactive and annoying when they had nothing to distract themselves, were forced to trudge through the forest too.

"Theo, are we there yet?"

"No, Drake."

"Theo, I'm hungry."

"Bryce, you ate while you were in town with Benny."

"Theo, I'm bored."

"Go play with Holly and Theresa."

"Theo, Bryce and Drake are being mean to me!"

"Drake, give back Holly's dagger."

Why they couldn't bother Benedict, I'll never know. I nearly lost it after Theresa started crying when Bryce pushed her again, but I knew Scout would kill me if I did. She had this thing about being nice to the kids, while my policy was more of a don't-indulge-them-or-they'll-irritate-you one.

But I had a pretty clear idea of what Scout would do if I made Theresa cry more, and fear of her punishment won out over my annoyance. I just sighed and picked the girl up with one arm (my other one was lugging a motorcycle), rubbing her back soothingly while Benedict laughed at me from behind his hand. I attempted to trip him, but he stepped over my foot while I was distracted by Holly.

"Theo, carry me too!" I looked down at her smirking, as I thought of an evil plan.

"Why doesn't Benedict carry you? I mean, I don't have any hands."

"No, I want you to carry me!" The smirk slipped off my face. My evil plan had failed.

So I ended up holding both of the little girls while Benedict got my babies.

"Theo?"

"What?" I growled. Drake cowered under my glare, and I sighed, rearranging my expression into a placating smile. "What is it Drake?"

"Um…" he started. "There are some people in the tree." Said people started, one falling out of the tree. I would have assumed it was a boy, if not for the horns growing out of it's head.

"Demon." I snarled. I put down the girls and had out Serafeim in a flash. Beside me, Benedict brandished his spear.

Eyes widening, the horned-boy stuttered, "No - no I'm - what? - no." Benedicts eyes were hard.

"Hm. I demon that talks before attacking? Either you're very foolish, or very overconfident." He grinned maliciously. "Why don't we find out?" Before he could charge at the horned-boy, who had backed himself into the tree, someone else jumped down, landing between us and the demon.

It was a well-muscled girl, with thin brown hair, and a sneer on a her face. She was followed by a companion, who scaled the tree down rather than following her example.

"Hold up." the girl said, "He's not a monster or demon or whatever you want to call it. Now, tell us who you are." Like Benedict, she held a spear, but hers crackled with electricity. It was the only part of her that I found somewhat threatening. I rolled my eyes.

"I think we're the ones who should be doing the asking. After all, you've been watching us from the trees, stalker." I have this bad habit that I've been lectured about more than once by Scout, where I purposely enraged an opponent in battle.

She growled, "Punk-" The other boy, not the horned one, put a hand on her shoulder.

"Maybe I should do the talking, Clarisse." He was a large boy, about the same size as Benedict, with sharp eyes that told me to make sure I kept an eye on him.

He addressed Benedict and I, raising his hands non-threateningly, "We mean no harm. We were told to come find someone. He-" He gestured to the horned-boy. "was helping us find her. Please trust us"

"Why should we trust you?" asked Benedict. "You're being helped by a demon. We should just defeat you here and kill the demon." The horned-boy whimpered under his glare, while Clarisse rolled her eyes, as if there was no way we could beat her.

"I think I understand what you mean by demon, and he's not one of them." said the boy. "There are loads of things that are similar to - er - demons, but they aren't them."

"How do you know?" Drake asked from his spot behind the motorcycle. I resisted the urge to throttle him. The kids had hidden the moment that the strangers had shown themselves, as per proper procedure, and he had just given away their position. The boy craned his neck to look behind us at the kids.

"I know because we are like you." He pointed to himself and Clarisse. "My name is Chris, this is my girlfriend Clarisse, and this is a Johnson, a satyr. He's not a monster, he just locates people like us. Like I said before, he was helping us find someone.

"We noticed some high… er, demon activity in the forest, and we called in some people to help and-"

"You have other companions?" Benedict demanded. Chris looked shocked, like he hadn't meant to give that away. I glared at him.

"Yeah, so what?" Clarisse butted in before her boyfriend had time to say anything. "They're somewhere up ahead; they said something about a camp. You wouldn't happen to know what they mean, would you?" She flipped twirled her spear over in her hand and growled slightly, looking at us like should be quivering in fear. Benedict and I exchanged wary glances. They had found Miss Oikos' camp. Then, I realized something.

"Who did you say you were looking for?" I asked. Chris looked taken aback.

"Ayita Lee." he said. "Her mother said that she might be in this area."

It took me a second to register what he had said. And then I did something that caught the already wary strangers off guard: I roared.

Within a second, I had disarmed Clarisse, using her surprise against her. Following my lead, Benedict had his spear against Chris' jugular vein in a moment.

"No one" I snarled, putting pressure on Serafeim where it was against her throat, "touches my daughter."

**XxXxXxXxX**


End file.
